Paysafe to Acquire viafintech
Paysafe, has today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire market-leading German fintech company, viafintech, in an all-cash transaction. viafintech, known under the brands of Barzahlen/viacash and viacash, offers the largest, bank independent, payments infrastructure in the DACH region, allowing a popular alternative to the traditional banking structure.
For Paysafe, this latest acquisition not only boosts its growth opportunities in Germany, a critical market for its international merchants, it also creates revenue-generating opportunities to cross-sell viafintech’s alternative banking and payments solutions to its merchants around the world.
Paysafe’s core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallets, eCash and open banking solutions. It offers over 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world.
viafintech was founded in 2011 and integrates with digital banking apps to offer an innovative “mobile ATM” concept which enables consumers to make deposits or withdraw cash from their digital bank accounts at a nearby retail store using a barcode; something that is becoming increasingly popular in the region as bricks and mortar bank branches close and fast-growing challenger banks and digital wallets disrupt the market. viafintech solutions are also used widely for bill payments and credit payouts, as well as for online shopping in general, supporting millions of consumers in the region who don’t have bank accounts, or who simply prefer the heightened security of using eCash to pay online.
Headquartered in Germany, where it has a market leading position, it also has a presence in an additional five European countries with plans to expand further. It operates via a network of 20,000 points of sale with over 20 well-known retail partners, and also has deep relationships in the banking, bill payments and eCommerce industries.
The combination of viafintech’s established banking framework and market leadership in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, together with Paysafe’s diverse payments portfolio and international merchant base, is expected to create compelling growth opportunities for each organisation, both within Europe and beyond.
As part of the deal, the viafintech team, including viafintech’s managing directors, Sebastian Seifert, Achim Bönsch and Andreas Veller, will become part of Paysafe’s expanding eCash and open banking solutions’ team which is headed up by Paysafe eCash CEO, Udo Müller.
This latest acquisition builds on Paysafe’s recent Latin American acquisition agreements with PagoEfectivo and SafetyPay and allows Paysafe to solidify its position as a global market leader for eCash and open banking solutions where multiple payments players are competing to gain a stronger foothold in the emerging open banking ecosystem and the provision of alternative payment methods (APMs). On completion of the three acquisitions, the Paysafe eCash business will be able to offer eCash and open banking solutions in over 60 countries with over one million distribution points.
Following the sale of their shares to Paysafe, viafintech’s majority shareholder - Glory Ltd., a global leader in cash technology solutions - will enter into a new strategic partnership with Paysafe. The two companies have signed a referral agreement that enables Glory to offer paysafecard, one of Paysafe’s leading eCash solutions, as a form of payment within its in-store payments kiosks, and, in turn, for Paysafe to offer Glory’s cash technology solutions to its merchants around the world.
Meanwhile, GRENKE BANK AG, which has been providing viafintech’s German bank license and proven regulatory framework since 2017, as well as being a shareholder of the company, will continue to provide the same banking service going forward.
Udo Müller, CEO, Paysafe eCash and Open Banking, commented:
“We are very excited to welcome a star player like viafintech into the Paysafe family. We believe the team are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the shift away from the legacy banking system in Germany and beyond as more and more challenger banks enter the market and consumers opt to use mobile-based solutions for banking and payments. By combining viafintech’s leading solutions with our existing eCash and APM portfolio, we are well positioned as an essential payments partner to challenger banks around the world as consumer banking habits continue to evolve.”
Sebastian Seifert, Co-founder and Managing Director of viafintech, added:
“We are delighted to become part of the Paysafe Group and believe this move will enable us to build on our business achievements to date and accelerate our future growth as Europe’s number one, non-banking, cash-in / cash-out infrastructure, further fuelling the shift away from legacy banking and driving more financial inclusion in general.”
The transaction is expected to close over the coming months, subject to customary closing conditions and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Until that time, the two organisations will continue to operate independently.
